Following a meeting with the school president two weeks ago, controversy has arised over new rules for the 2024-2025 school year.

This year, Cardozo High School is limiting the total number of clubs to 75. This is causing many clubs to “merge” into each other, despite whether or not the clubs are of similar topics. Recently, club presidents received emails notifying them if their club will remain “independent” or be merged with another. Many people on the receiving end of these emails were more than upset.

Additionally, all students, whether club presidents or members, are now required to purchase a Student Organization (S.O.) card for $10. Another important new rule states that by November, any club with fewer than ten members at each meeting will be dissolved.

Both club presidents and club members are outraged by these new rules. Upcoming club presidents spent weeks filled with confusion about the club fair prior to the Oct. 9 date.

Mariana Prieto, the president of the Creative Writing Club shared her concerns, “Clubs are being joined together that aren’t even that similar…I also believe that merging different clubs isn’t fair to the respected board members since their positions will be dropped.”

The club changes this year not only affects the presidents and their board but also the members of the clubs. Isis Irizarry, a member of many different clubs feels, “It’s really annoying because people want to join certain clubs; they don’t want to be in a big club of people who are doing different things.”

This year’s club fair was one of the most unorganized club fairs in recent Cardozo history, as well. The Club fair was filled with a lot of confusion for most club presidents and huge lack of communication for many.

Hopefully, in the future, the school can address these changes more effectively to benefit not only club leaders but also the students passionate about their extracurricular activities.